Talking pictures, reading Guernica

This never happened to Oprah The Prospect Reading Group is now an official slice of the history of the Whitechapel Gallery. The group became a live installation when 10 of us sat down recently at the large roundtable placed in the middle of the Goschka Macuga show ‘The Nature of the Beast’. We were there to discuss the exhibition and the book, Guernica: The Biography of a Twentieth-Century Icon by Gijs van Hensbergen. The group doesn’t normally hold its discussions in such a public way, but plans had already been made to visit the exhibition when the table – which turned out to be explicitly set up to encourage such discussions – presented itself as an interesting experiment. As a condition of its use, the group must send the gallery notes of our meeting, for inclusion in its archive. On this occasion the discussion was joined by Hilly Janes, the new executive editor of Prospect. At first intimidated by the echoing acoustics, the number of exhibition-goers listening in, and the size of the table (designed to evoke the UN Security Council) we gradually adjusted our voices and distances began to shrink. In front hung the Guernica Tapestry, borrowed from the UN building in New York, which reproduces the painting in softer, browner tones. Besides the tapestry and the table, which doubled up as a documentation showcase, a video showed recent scenes of devastation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a bronze Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State, held up a phial – the pose he took when addressing the Security Council to get backing for the second Iraq invasion. The tapestry had been covered up by blue cloth when he spoke, prompting speculation that its anti-war message was being deliberately hidden from television viewers. There was some discussion of the morality of different types of bombing — by drawing parallels with Iraq/Afghanistan, the artist was clearly saying that those bombings are ‘bad’, but couldn’t she have equally chosen the Madrid terrorist train bombings of a few years ago? Is bombing different if done by a state, rather than by freelancers? Better, or worse? We were not convinced that the installation added to the original painting, one of Pablo Picasso’s most famous, which became a benchmark for the expression of political argument through art. Possibly the most travelled painting in the world, Guernica presented itself to a world audience at first hand, rather than through reproductions, something that may have given it even more influence. What stood out for many of us was the way the painting also became a benchmark for modern art, by staying open to multiple layers of meaning. The author, Van Hensbergen, writes: ‘Picasso’s work, for artists, is like the theory of relativity to scientists’. It certainly shaped the aesthetics of American art, and its journey from Paris to New York symbolised the postwar shift of power in the art world. In the book, the author notes Picasso’s criticisms of the Surrealists for being too narcissistic and inward-looking: Guernica arguably represents an outward stance to the world which is typical of much American highbrow culture.

YOU’VE HIT THE LIMIT

You have now reached your limit of 3 free articles in the last 30 days. But don’t worry! You can get another 7 articles absolutely free, simply by entering your email address in the box below.

When you register we’ll also send you a free e-book—Writing with punch—which includes some of the finest writing from our archive of 22 years. And we’ll also send you a weekly newsletter with the best new ideas in politics and philosophy of culture, which you can of course unsubscribe from at any time

Email

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information.

Click to learn more about these interests and how we use your data. You will be able to object to this processing on the next page and in all our communications.

Comments

No comments yet

Prospect's free newsletter

The big ideas that are shaping our world—straight to your inbox. PLUS a free e-book and 7 articles of your choosing on the Prospect website.

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information. Click here to learn more about these purposes and how we use your data. You will be able to opt-out of further contact on the next page and in all our communications.

This Month's Magazine

How has the national broadcaster dealt with the biggest issue of our time? Plus: James Graham on John Bercow and Jennifer Williams on Manchester's housing boom (and homelessness crisis)

Register today and access any 7 articles on the Prospect’s website for FREE in the next 30 days.. PLUS find out about the big ideas that will shape our world—with Prospect’s FREE newsletter sent to your inbox. We'll even send you our e-book—Writing with punch—with some of the finest writing from the Prospect archive, at no extra cost!

Prospect subscribers have full access to all the great content on our website, including our entire archive.

If you do not know your login details, simply close this pop-up and click 'Login' on the black bar at the top of the screen, then click 'Forgotten password?', enter your email address and press 'Submit'. Your password will then be emailed to you.

Thank you for your support of Prospect and we hope that you enjoy everything the site has to offer.

This site uses cookies to improve the user experience. By using this site, you agree that we can set and use these cookies. For more details on the cookies we use and how to manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy.